


Super-Powered Catastrophe

by Ffwydriad



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cross-Universal Travel, Crossover, Gen, Have I mentioned I have a (minor) obsession with Secret Wars, Here we go, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Secret Wars (2015), especially involving the avengers, oh look another fic posted a year after i first wrote it because i procrastinate on editing, wow i sure do love overly complicated aus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-09 06:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8878900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ffwydriad/pseuds/Ffwydriad
Summary: Sometimes, when there are villains who threaten the fate of the multiverse, you fight. Other times, your friend shows up on your doorsteps randomly and takes you to a safehouse in another universe, before disappearing.
Or, there is always a universe more messed up than your own





	1. your superpowered catastrophe of a team bring all the heroes to the yard and they're like, you're cooler than us, damn right, we're cooler than you

Pietro is the first to arrive. He’s got a tendency nowadays to be the vanguard, and it’s him who very quickly takes all the weapons and drops them to the ground as the Avengers arrive. The shield agents and the group of unknowns are standing off, clearly split, but their arrival makes the opposing sides more of a triangle – an uneven triangle, but a triangle none the less.

 

One of the blonde boys – no, both of their hair is bleached white, whiter than Pietro’s even- moves to take his teams weapons back. The dark haired girl next to him holds an arm out to stop him from moving. They were not carrying much, a bow, some guns, and a shield reminiscent of Captain America propaganda props, but besides that they were mostly unarmed. Perhaps that’s the reason why the shield agents seem more annoyed than the unknowns do.

 

The Avengers proper touch down with a dignified air, as Tony, Vision, and Wanda land gracefully from the sky, with Steve, Clint, and Natasha rolling up on motorcycles close behind them. It isn’t the full contingent, only those who had been involved in the training exercises centered around the Maximoff twins.

 

The Shield Agents are nothing special. There are some Clint recognizes, most who he doesn’t, but none of them are powered. Their opponents are seven young adults, standing very defensively even though they face the Avengers without any weapons. It’s very likely they have powers, then, because the looks in their eyes isn’t fear.

 

The brunette girl, previously having held a bow, stands at the front, either to lead the team or to take any hit first. Next to her is the pale, white haired boy, whose arm she no longer grips but who stands behind her. On the other side, there is the bald, dark skinned young man who had held the star spangled shield. Of all of them, he has the fiercest glare. Behind them is a blonde girl, seeming to be the youngest of the lot, based on appearance, and another pale haired boy who had been holding strange looking weapons that Tony would want to identify later.

 

The two at the back were the more interesting, however. There was the clearly non-human boy, with green skin that may have been scaly, perhaps, and large, dragon or bat like wings stretching out from his back. He had heavy piercings and golden blonde hair. Next to him, was a normal looking, dark haired, tan skinned boy wearing a hoodie. He was the only one of the seven not in a fighting stance. He was obviously tense, but without the clenched fists and readiness to fight by hand even with the weapons taken. He did not look scared, however, but considerate. Calm. Either he was a very good actor, or he had some impressive powers.

 

“Alright,” Steve calls out, stepping forward, leaving the bike where it was and clearly coming to the forefront, imposing that authoritative sense in his actions and his words. “Who can tell me what, exactly, is going on here?”

 

“This is official Shield business,” one of the agents says. “They broke in to our base to kidnap a prisoner. Thank you for your assistance, but we have this under control.”

 

“Kidnap a prisoner?” One of the unknowns says – the white haired boy who had been held back – with an eye roll. “You’re the ones who kidnapped me off the street! They were just here to rescue me!”

 

“Obviously there’s been some misunderstandings,” Steve replies swiftly. “How about we all sit down and talk everything out.”

 

“Yeah, and how about you give us back our property and let us leave?” the black kid tells him, almost bitterly. “We don’t want anyone to get hurt, we just want to get out of here.”

 

“Don’t listen to them,” the shield agent retorts. “You don’t understand how dangerous they are. If you had seen what he did –“

 

“What I did?” white haired boy asked incredulously. “You don’t even know what I did!”

 

“They’re dangerous unknowns who belong in Shield custody,” the agent tells them.

 

“Funny,” Wanda comments, “they said the same thing about my brother and me.”

 

“Yeah. They say that a lot,” Natasha says with a smirk. “It’s probably best if you agents go inside. These dangerous unknowns of yours have superpowers, right? We wouldn’t want you getting caught in the crossfire."

 

“Yeah! Scram!” the white haired boy said. “Go and do your creepy shadowy government agency thing somewhere else!” The agents back off, and he grins.

 

“I didn’t really think they would really do it,” the blonde girl murmurs. “I thought they didn’t trust the Avengers.” She still looks like she’s about to attack, though, as if she doesn’t trust the Avengers either.

 

“They trust us to fight evil,” The Vision notes. “I have found the video which they were describing. A building, blown up, by the young man the agents focused on.”

 

“You blew up a building?” asks Tony, sounding a mix of curious at how and a little bit frightened, but mostly just curious. Assuming it wasn’t regular explosives, what sort of superpowers let you blow up a building?

 

“You blew up a building?!” the group shouts out, less of a question and more of an angry yell. The girl in front sighs. “Tommy, you absolute moron! What part of keep a low profile do you not understand!”

 

“They were Hydra!” the boy - Tommy replies. “They were being creepy about Billy!  Of course I had to blow them up, it was the only logical choice. What would you want me to do, _not_ blow them up?”

 

“Not if it means that Shield kidnaps you! Come on, Tommy!”

 

“To be fair,” Tony says with a bit of a smirk, “I’m pretty sure that you’ve stolen Cap’s catchphrase there.”

 

“My fights with Hydra rarely end with explosions,” Steve retorts, them pauses. “I mean, rarely am I the one who sets the explosions. Directly.”

 

“Keep telling yourself that, Cap.” Clint laughs. “So, we share a distaste for Hydra. Strong common ground. How about we get on that sitting down and talking thing?”

 

“Yeah, no,” The brunette girls says simply. “The only way this is going to end peacefully is if you just let us go. We’re not villains and we’re not dangerous. We just want to go home.”

 

“Kate, I mean, we are pretty dangerous,” Tommy adds in, earning him another glare. “What, I’m just saying. In a fight, at least, I bet we could take them. I mean, they don’t have the Hulk, we have Cass and Billy and you, I’m almost certain we could beat them up.”

 

“You looking to test that?” Pietro asks, and the boy smirks at him.

 

“No!” The blonde girl interrupts, voice tinged with anger, and her - friends? - stare at her in confusion. “Even if we do get out of here, Shield will keep tracking us down. We don’t have the resources to keep running. They have to know where our house is, now. We don’t have any connections here. They’ll find us, and they’ll keep finding us. We can’t just run away and hope that your friend comes back.”

 

“Hoping for America to come back is literally our entire plan, Cass,” the green monster boy notes. “Without that – without the apartment – we’ve got nothing.”

 

“We have each other,” the black kid corrects. “That’s all we’ll need.” He says the statement firmly, as if he truly believes it, and the others sort of waver, not quite certain of the truth. Steve pauses, not quite ready to interrupt. They seem to be leaning towards cooperating, after all.

 

“Uh – Wanda?” The quiet, dark haired boy asks, calmly. “Your name is Wanda, right? I have a question: do you trust the Avengers?”

 

“Oh come on,” Tommy groans. “Back at it again with the placing blind trust in people. Any one of them could be secretly Hydra. Shield was secretly Hydra.” The boy ignores him, staring at Wanda instead.

 

She looks at him, closely. “I am not Hydra,” she informs them, very sternly, “and I trust the Avengers with my life. You’re the one shielding their minds from me?” Wanda asks. There is something strangely familiar about him, and there is a strangeness in how she can gather nothing from the group, not even surface thoughts.

 

He pauses before answering, “Yes.” He turns towards the group. “If she trusts them, I’m okay with at least the talking part.”

 

“This is dumb,” the leader girl replies with a withering sigh. “Let me put this on record as being a bad idea, but I’ll go with it.” There’s another sigh, and then her voice switches to a commanding tone. “You give us back our weapons, even though, trust me, we could give you a hell of a fight without them. We leave here, meet somewhere you’re comfortable with, a base or whatever. Iron Man loses the armor.”

 

“That seems like we’ve been given a big advantage,” Natasha says. “We’d meet at our home base, which neither side will deny has security systems, and we’ll still have weaponry, not to mention additional back up there. How powerful do you think your team is?”

 

The girl doesn’t reply, but she smiles kind of sinisterly. She may or may not be the actual leader, but she’s definitely the strategic mastermind of the group. Natasha has to admit that being inside their own base would certainly limit Thor, Bruce, and Sam, but they’d outnumber the group and have the security systems. It’s not quite as bad as it seems, but it’s still one hell of a play.

 

“We need to stop back at the apartment,” the dark haired boy says. “I need to check on –“ He stops there, uncertain how to phrase it, on how much he wants to reveal.

 

“No. There’s no way everyone could fit in there, check up to see we’re not escaping, and we at least need the pretense that this little agreement has a basis in trust. You can call the dog, leave it a voicemail, if you’re really that worried.”

 

“I’m sure that _the dog_ would prefer someone talk to him in person. I could go, be back in a jiff,” Tommy suggests.

 

“Yeah. No.” The black kid looks at him sternly. “After what just happened, there is no way are we sending you anywhere unsupervised. Who knows, maybe you’d blow up the building.”

 

“Besides,” brunette girl says, “we don’t even know if the dog is still in the building. He could have wandered off. Just let Billy call.”

 

The dark haired boy, Billy, opens his cellphone and calls, muttering words that are most definitely not English in to it. There’s a strange, light breeze, that blows through at that moment, picking up his hair just a little before dissipating quickly. He puts the phone back in his pocket.

 

“So, you’ve told your friend what’s going on?” Clint asks. “What? Like I haven’t used the dog code before. It isn’t exactly subtle.”

 

The girl – she had been holding a bow, wearing purple, using codes Clint used, and how suspicious was that under closer examination? – snorts. It’s only a temporary break in her stoic, calculating facade, but it’s a break nonetheless. “Let’s go. I don’t want to stay here for much longer.”

 

“We have a jet, waiting nearby,” Steve tells them. “Would you prefer that or another way to get to the base?” It’s a simple question but both sides know it’s a way to judge exactly what powers the team has.

 

“The jet,” the dark haired boy says, and the slight shift everyone had made towards him is reversed, just as subtly. “We’re agreeing to meet with them at their home base, what makes the jet really any different.”

 

“You trust my sister’s opinion that much?” Pietro asks. “We will be in an enclosed space, high up in the air. They are not the same at all.”

 

“It’s not our trust in her that’s getting us on the jet,” The girl says sharply. “My bow and quiver, please?”

 

Steve nods, and in a flash Pietro returns the weapons he’d taken from the group. The strange guns from the quiet white haired boy are holstered, and the shield goes on the black kids back – magnets under the jacket, perhaps?

 

The girl, in turn, adjusts her quiver. Her bow looks wooden, not like the high tech pulley’d system Clint has, so if she’s using a bow like that she has to be good. Clint’s shift was less for accuracy and more for physical strength, to keep him from getting to exhausted in the field, but for most people accuracy was a factor as well.

 

Pietro looks to Natasha, who nods, and he picks her up and runs towards the jet. He could pilot it, technically, but he was far from good at it given how little the computer could do with such close range.

 

“How good’s your aim?” Clint asks the girl, deciding to forgo all subtlety. She seems to find that amusing, given the small laugh.

 

“Better than yours, old man.” She replies, and it’s a mixture of smugness, which sounds like both an inside joke and a test. She looks up as the jet arrives, landing in the clearing. It faces the shield base with the opening ramp straight in their direction. Without another word, both teams walk inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i keep looking through old drafts from like a year ago involving secret wars and going, hey, this didn't completely suck, and then lightly editing them while avoiding essays + writing projects + revelations + the civil war rewrite i was totally planning on doing.
> 
> also, like, the young avengers literally showing up in the mcu is kind of my favorite thing ever. as was secret wars, which i am never getting over even though i don't particularly like all the stuff in the new universe?
> 
> originally i had a bunch of stuff written from the shield perspective about the capture, but it was all boring and repetitive and hard to write, and i like this a whole lot better.


	2. the problem with keeping secrets is that it takes one word and then everyone starts telling you everything and you get a freaking information overload

“Wow, nice jet,” the blonde girl says, once all of them climb on board. She looks around in what might be awe.

 

“Not as good as some, but agreed,” says the white haired boy who isn't named Tommy, sounding almost smug. “What’s the quality of your speaker system, and do you happen to have an internet connection, or any music files-“

 

“No,” The brown haired girl interrupts, less a definitive and more of an exasperated groan. “But you're right, this certainly isn’t the standard quinjet.”

 

“You’re right. I designed and built this thing myself.” Tony grins. “I do have some music, if none of you mind.” He almost expects the girl to protest, but none of them do. Some generic rock music comes over the speakers, and the one who’d been asking about it taps his fingers to the rhythm, as if he’d like to be dancing but knows he’ll get yelled at, or maybe just trying to keep up an imposing appearance against the Avengers. Some of the others seem to perk up, but none of them react much.

 

“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to give us names,” Steve asks.

 

“We can talk at your base,” the girl replies calmly. “I’d really prefer not to go through that whole thing twice, if it’s all the same to you.”

 

The rest of the ride isn’t that long, but save for the music and some sparse murmuring, it is very quiet. They touch down at the base, and the rest of the Avengers are waiting for them out front. Sam has his wings attached, Thor has Mjolnir by his side, and Rhodey almost certainly has a gun holstered on him somewhere. Besides that, however, they’re in plainclothes and not armor. Tony lets the suit fly off, and everyone climbs out of the jet. The six Avengers waiting there look over the group tentatively.

 

“These are the people you brought in to talk?” Scott asks, raising an eyebrow. “They’re just a bunch of –“

 

“Highly competent individuals who are willing and able to fight all of you if it comes down to it,” The girl interrupts smoothly. They’re tense, especially the blonde girl, who is staring at Scott very strangely. “I’m going to recommend that we take our discussion indoors, because no offense to your base security, I'd rather not get caught by any spying cameras." 

 

“You’ve thought this out,” Natasha notes. “Who taught you manipulation, because there’s no way you’re naturally that good.” The girl smiles, and they all walk inside.

 

“You wanted our names,” the bald kid says simply. “I'm Eli.”

 

“Teddy,” the green boy said. It was strangely human, given his appearance.

 

“Billy,” the dark haired boy by his side said.

 

“Tommy.” Tommy said, with a smirk of a smile.

 

“Cassie,” the blonde girl said, very deliberately not looking at Scott, a contrast from before.

 

“Nolan,” the other white haired boy said. He didn’t hesitate, seemed totally natural with his answer, but it was a stark lie nonetheless.

 

“Kate,” The dark haired girl says. “First names only, simply to ease conversation." She says that so definitively, and even on enemy ground she gives off the impression of being in control. "Don’t bother introducing yourself, we already know your names.”

 

“Our code names, sure, but I suppose we could do first names as well, seeing how those haven’t all been released to the public?” Steve questioned.

 

“We already know your names,” Eli repeats. “We didn’t say anything about what was released to the public.”

 

“Hackers?” Tony asks. “Because I haven’t caught anyone in my systems, but Shield has our information on file and they aren’t exactly the best.”

 

“None of us are that good at hacking,” Kate tells, and she smiles, a simple admission leading to only more confusion.

 

“I am an excellent hacker.” ‘Nolan’ added, with mock offense. “The fact that I don’t fully understand how American coding practices work notwithstanding.”

 

“You needn’t hide your nature, friend.” Thor says with a laugh. “While the Avengers may be intimidating, they are very accepting as well.” Kate glances sharply at Nolan, who looks rather spooked. The Avengers all stare at Thor, who very obviously knows something the group does, but they don’t.

 

“I don't know what you're talking about," Kate replies smoothly. "Look, how about we begin with you telling exactly what you want to know to let us-" A hand is placed on her shoulder, and she stops talking in 

 

“My name is Noh-Varr,” Not-Nolan says simply. “As the Asgardian hinted at, I’m not human. I’m a member of an alien race known as the Kree.” Even Thor looks surprised at that.

 

“You knew he was alien but didn’t know he was Kree,” Teddy notes, and he seems a little bit fascinated by the concept, probably given how he's the most inhuman one of the lot. “Or, you knew he was alien, thought he was Kree, but ruled it out because of me.”

 

“You’re alien too?” Rhodey asks, but to be fair, it isn't quite as surprising as the other.

 

“Yeah,” Teddy says. “I mean, I was raised on Earth, but I’m not human. I’m Skrull as much as I am anything, I suppose.” He says that with a shrug, sort of uncertain, even though he's talking about his species.

 

“Thor, you seem to know – who or what are the Kree and the Skrull?” Steve asks, carefully.

 

“Two alien races who have been in an endless, merciless war for longer than some races have even lived,” Thor explains. “Both are fierce and militaristic, the Skrull notable for their shapeshifting abilities and the Kree for their talents in genetic engineering. Neither race cares for much beyond survival and victory against their opponent.”

 

“We’re not exactly with them. The governments, I mean.” Kate says. “I don’t know. Noh, are you planning on conquering this planet in the name of the Kree empire?”

 

“Not really,” Noh Varr says with a shrug. “That was just a phase, you know.” For such a dark topic, it sounds more like an old inside joke.

 

“Yeah, none of us really like to talk about who we were when we were younger,” Kate adds. “The rest of us are human. Well, human in the same sense that all of you barring Thor are human, which is looser than some people’s definition and stricter than some others.

 

Tommy snorts at that. “You’re one to talk, Katie, seeing how you’re actually human.”

 

“Superpowers don’t mean you aren’t human.” Wanda says quickly.

 

“Sure it does. Just ask any extremist group.” Tommy laughs again. “Hey, want to see what I can do?” Then he’s gone, with a burst of wind, and if it weren’t for the fact they were all used to Pietro, it would seem like he had teleported. He returned seconds later, holding an open can of soda in his hand. “Wow, your kitchen is well stocked!”

 

“Like Pietro,” Clint comments. “You’re a mini version of Pietro.”

 

"How did you blow up a building with superspeed?" Tony asks. "I mean, you didn't go in there with any bombs, and while they could have had explosives, that looked like it wasn't a regular explosion." Tommy just grins, not quite willing to explain if he has another power, or how exactly superspeed could cause something to explode.

 

“If we're sharing powers, then, I suppose I'll follow next. It’s harder to demonstrate my powers, exactly,” Billy says, except he sounds more like he didn’t want to show them the full extent of his powers. His hand glows, sparking blue energy, electric in a way. “I suppose you could say I have the powers of the Scarlet Witch.”

 

Everyone stares at Billy and Tommy, and it is immediately apparent the two are identical save for coloring, twins in every sense of the word. “Were you – were you experimented on by Hydra as well?” Steve asks. Two twins, with the same powers as Wanda and Pietro, it seems like the only logical conclusion.

 

“No,” Billy tells them. “That’s not – is that how you got your powers?” He directs the question at Wanda.

 

“Yes. We were prisoners of Hydra and they experimented on us,” Wanda says. “You have powers similar to my brother and me, so we had to ask.”

 

Billy turns to whisper to the group. He’s good at being quiet, and longer words are even harder to understand, but for some reason they all keep repeating the letter X. He turns back. “I didn’t know. My brother and I were born with these powers, and we – I assumed you had to.”

 

“Not everyone gets to be born with superpowers.” Eli says with a shrug. He doesn’t sound bitter, but it sounds almost like a touchy, long dropped subject. “I needed a blood transfusion, Cassie’s exposure was gradual, and we aren’t even mentioning Kate, who’s completely normal.”

 

“There’s nothing normal about me,” Kate retorts. “And you’re one to talk, seeing how you only got that blood transfusion because you decided to act like Captain America even when you didn’t have the powers.”

 

"Blood transfusion." Steve pauses, connecting dots. “Are you talking about the Supersoldier serum?"

 

“Yeah,” Eli says. “I got hurt in a fight. Got some blood, got the serum.” He doesn’t mention who the blood is from. Logically, the only person it could be was Steve, but he still doesn’t say it, hiding something. There are only a handful of vials, and that had never worked before. There is something very off about these kids.

 

“You’re a team.” Sam notes, leaning against the wall and looking them over. “Not just a group of kids with powers, but a functioning team. You’ve been in fights, like the one you were in with Shield, many times before. Right?”

 

“Not in a long time,” Eli says solemnly. “But you’re right. We’re a team.” Cassie fidgets.

 

“Okay, let me set this straight.” Tony says. "You're a team full of superpowered teenagers who are strong enough to fight Shield and think you're strong enough to fight us, you somehow managed to hide from all Shield detection, and we're supposed to think you aren't a threat? Two of you are aliens, two of you were born with powers, even though that most definitely isn’t a thing," Someone chuckles at that.  "And then you’ve got someone with the supersoldier serum in their blood, Little Ms. Hawkeye here-“

 

“Just Hawkeye.” Kate interrupts, voice almost taunting. “Not Miss Hawkeye, or Lady Hawkeye, or Hawkeye 2. Just to be clear, here.”

 

“Alright,” Tony says, rather confused but rolling with it. “Hawkeye, who apparently has claimed the name for herself alone, and presumably has a scary skill-set to back it up, and you, who have been exposed to something. Let me guess: Gamma radiation.”

 

"Not even close,” Tommy says with a laugh. "If anyone’s going to be Hulk Jr –" He’s shoved in the side by his brother.

 

“Um,” Cassie starts, very deliberately not looking in a singular direction. She looks at her team instead, and at Kate, who sighs and gives a despondant nod to go ahead. “My powers come from prolonged exposure to Pym particles.”

 

There is a crash as Scott drops a mug and it shatters to the floor. Everyone turns around to look at him at the sound except Cassie, who very deliberately does not turn, as if she expected the sound. His hands are shaking, and he stares at the blonde girl with wide eyes.

 

“No,” he murmurs. “What’s your last name.”

 

“Do you really want to know?” she asks, and now she’s facing him, keeping her eyes from his face.

 

“Yes,” he says firmly.

 

“Lang.” The name rings through the dead silence. Not all of the Avengers have met Scott's daughter, but they have seen pictures at minimum, and all of them know her name.

 

"And here we go," Kate mutters, as if she knew this would be how it all went down, and despite her best attempts to stop the revelation while keeping them all safe, it came out anyway, just as she had suspected.

 

“How?” Scott asks, staring his own daughter in the face. “You shouldn’t – you’re not – Sam, please tell me I’m not the only one seeing this.” Sam nods, somewhat grimly. She’s older, yes, but as soon as you know what to look for the girl is undeniably the same Cassie Lang.

 

“Are you from the future?” Tony asks. “Some alternate reality? A clone? Because this is perhaps even freakier than the presence of aliens in the room.”

 

“This was a stupid idea, we shouldn’t have come – Billy –“ Kate starts, an order half formed on her lips, but Billy shakes his head. Even as the leader, she doesn't seem to be listened to.

 

“It’s a pretty long story,” Billy tells them instead. “But you aren’t exactly wrong. You know the multiverse theory?”

 

“Sure,” Tony replied. "Who doesn't?" That earns him a glare from the several people in the room who don't.

 

“It’s true. There are trillions upon trillions of worlds out there, or, at least there used to be. I don’t know whether or not you can detect the Multiverse – I mean, you can’t, but maybe Asgard can. If they can, they should have heard of this. The multiverse is dying, or, well, it's being killed.”

 

“Dying?” Tony asks, and he’s the only one of the Avengers processing this quickly enough to keep up with the boy’s conversational tone. “Are you implying that there’s something destroying universes? Destroying the multiverse? What are you doing here, then? I can’t imagine we would send some kids to save a universe on their own.”

 

“We aren’t kids,” Eli growls. “We’ve been a team longer than your sorry asses have, you pretentious –“

 

“Eli,” Billy says calmly. “We weren’t sent by the Avengers. We weren’t sent by anyone. Our universe, it’s gone. Dead. Most of them are now. Only a few remain, and this is the most stable. I mean, this, a few others, and the demiurge created ones, but those are harder to get to."

 

“So we’re safe,” Steve says, the threat of an interuniversal apocalypse off of his mind for at least a few seconds. “You all are what? Refugees?” Refugees from another universe, that's a new one.

 

“It's a good a phrase as any,” Kate says. “A friend of ours, she gave us a lift here, to keep us alive. We’ve been waiting here ever since, hoping she’d return. Billy’s been keeping tabs on where she’s been, how many universes are remaining. I’m pretty sure she’s got other friends she’s trying to save.”

 

“Oh.” Billy says, and his eyes are glowing electric blue. “That's new. I can’t find her. She’s gone. Everything’s gone.”

 

“What do you mean she’s gone?” Kate asks. “It’s America. She can travel between universes. There’s no way that she’s gone.” She sounds frantic, worried, either at the thought of being trapped her or over the fate of her friend.

 

“No, wait, I can see it now. She’s not gone. She’s trapped.” Billy corrects, and Teddy grabs on to him to keep him upright. “There’s only one place left, outside of mine, outside of these. It’s new, though. Messed up, fractured, too many different signals, but she’s there.” He pauses. “He made it. He destroyed everything to make – I don’t know what he’s calling it.”

 

“He? So there’s a single person destroying universes?” Tony asks. “It’s a good thing you came here, we can stop him. I mean, we’re the Avengers.”

 

“No.” Billy whispers, breathless, eyes wide. Whatever he's seeing, it's made him very afraid. “You’ve never faced something like this. It’s Doom.” That earns a gasp of shock from his teammates, who despite already knowing there was something killing the multiverse have actually gone tense with what seems like genuine fear. “And he’s made himself in to a god.”

 

Wanda steps forward, hand flickering red, hands reaching out towards Billy. “No,” She says, softly, and her eyes are as wide as his. She seems to make a connection, and there’s a flash of bright blue, and the both of them fall, collapsed on to the floor.


	3. If you repeat a  lie long enough it becomes true. haha, who am i kidding, we're all horribly bad at lying to begin with, you think we'd even believe ourselves?

“Billy?” Teddy asks, holding his teammate in his arms with worried eyes. “Billy, Billy, wake up. Come on. This is not the time to get exhausted.” He sounds like a worried teammate, but there’s something more there than losing what – the most powerful member on the team?

 

“What did he do to Wanda?” Pietro hisses, poised to attack someone, anyone, and that’s when Tommy rushes forward, a blur, and pins him against the wall.

 

“If you even think about laying a hand on my brother-" he starts, angrily, holding Pietro so fiercely that the older man can’t move. In that instant, weapons are drawn, facing their opponents, the only people who don’t look poised to attack are Kate, who stands firmly to the side, Teddy, and the two people lying unconscious on the floor.

 

“Let him go son,” Steve tells Tommy, calmly, but he’s holding the shield on his arm instead of on his back and he looks ready for a fight. Tommy glances at Kate.

 

“Tommy, let him go.” Kate says, with a nod. “My guess is that their powers are interfering with each other. The same power, two different universes, she was trying to look in to his mind, there may have been some issues.”

 

“The same power,” Sam repeats. “Are you saying the kid has the exact same powers as Wanda? I thought you said they weren’t caused by Hydra experimentation.”

 

“If she’s-“ Pietro starts, “and you’re –" Something clicks in place, in him before any of the others do. “Which one of us –“

 

Tommy scowls at him as he stands down. “Way to jump to conclusions there,” he says angrily, though at least some of that anger seems to be directed at Kate. “If I wanted to be polite, I’d tell you who the baby daddy is. Except I’m never polite, and I bet it’s rude given that he’s _already in the room_.” Pietro dashes forward – an attempt to throttle Tommy? – but the boy, his alternate universe nephew, dodges easily.

 

“They’re her kids,” Tony says, finally figuring it out. “And she's the Ant-kid, so does that make – is mini-Hawkeye actually mini-Hawkeye?”

 

Kate chokes, not on laughter, but on what has to be disgust. “You have got to be kidding me. Why does everyone always assume we’re related, as if talent is genetic.”

 

“I’m more annoyed by the fact you just told them that Billy has the exact same powers as the Scarlet Witch.” Teddy says, low and quiet. “We all remember what happened last time. Do you think that’s going to go over well with any version of the Avengers?”

 

“He already told them pretty much the same, even if they weren't paying attention," Kate tells him. "Besides, this universe is missing something. You've seen them. If she does have her power to the same extent as Billy, as our version of her, no way do they know. No way does she know, either."

 

“This is where you tell us everything,” Natasha says. “And sincerely remember that with your friend out of play, we’ve got the advantage here.” They still have weapons drawn, even if slightly relaxed, pointed at the ground instead of other people but still out and in hand. 

 

“You wouldn’t understand,” Kate replies swiftly. “I wasn’t just making shit up on the spot when I said this universe was missing something. As far as realities go, it’s empty. You don’t have any other super-powered teams in the public eye, only a handful of villains. None of you have dealt with anything even half on the level of our very first villain fight.”

 

“She has a point,” Noh says. “They don’t have the sheer amount of experience most Avengers have. The only aliens they’ve properly interacted with are the Asgardians.”

 

“What, exactly, is Billy’s power,” Natasha enunciates the question clearly. “I am not playing around.”

 

Even though she's the one who's been saying the whole thing is a bad idea, it's Kate who folds the quickest. What exactly is her relationship to Clint? How well does she know Natasha? Or, at least, their alternate reality counterparts. “He has the same powers as the Scarlet Witch: Chaos Magic.”

 

“Magic doesn’t exist,” Tony says quickly. “Everything like the Asgard stuff, it’s just really advanced science.”

 

“Yeah, sure, but I never had the time to listen to Loki’s explanations as to exactly how Billy saved the multiverse from a shapeshifting parasite using the power of love, I just accepted it as magic and moved on with my life.” Her voice is heavy with sarcasm and an annoyance with Stark. “Whatever. He can manipulate reality and controls his powers by chanting. Call it whatever you want.”

 

“How do you know my brother?” Thor asked, low voice. “If your presence here was through some old trick of his-“

 

“Asgardians. Why are you so single minded?" Kate asks.  "We could talk about the fact I knew a clone of your brother artificially created to replace his childish reincarnation by a future, evil self, which gained a sentience of it’s own, combining multiple versions of his personality, and made a team specifically to fight the manifestations of his own guilt over the murder of his innocent self, but that’s way too complicated for a group who has only had to deal with one alien invasion and one supervillain trying to take over the world when we should really be focusing on how the fuck to wake Billy up.”

 

After she finishes the tirade, her breathing is heavy, a symptom of rushing through the whole thing with one breath. Eli pinches the bridge of his nose. “And this is why I don’t get involved with superheroics anymore.”

 

Tony whistles, holding it for a short while, while the rest of his team is standing there, slackjawed.  “I rescind my offer to fight whoever it is that’s destroying universe, whoever he is.”

 

“That’s probably for the best. The last time we fought Doctor Doom, he murdered me.” Cassie said with a shrug, and she almost sounds like it's another inside joke. Everyone else winces, except for Noh. The Avengers turn to him for an explanation.

 

“Hey, I was too busy dealing with the aftereffects of mind control to pay attention to what was going on.” Noh says as explanation. “That’s rough, buddy. Being dead sucks.”

 

“You died?” Scott says, more shocked by this than literally anything else. “Are you okay? How did you – how did you come back? Is that common?” He seems really freaked out, and it’s perhaps the most normal thing to happen since Wanda and Billy collapsed.

 

“Uh, something happened – I never did figure out what – to make all the villains good, so Doom decided to fix his worst crime – killing me. Have we mentioned that his ascending to unreasonable power isn’t unusual? It happens a lot. As does dying. And bringing people back from the dead. There’s a whole subclass of psychologists trained in it, which was useful.”

 

“How many of you have died before?” Steve asks, calmly, but also kind of sadly.

 

 

"Fraid it's just Cassie, none of us have had that pleasure," Tommy replies. "Unless you count Jonas, I guess, but he's a robot, so does it really count. Or whats his name, who turned in to a supervillain and showed up when we were fighting Doom, or maybe Loki, but I was too busy being possessed to ever meet the guy," he trails off, trying to think of other examples of them dying.

 

“Shit.” Rhodey murmurs. “And I thought everything was messed up here.”

 

“Quiet.” Teddy hisses, and the room goes silent, save for a cough from Tony. The green boy leans an ear towards Billy’s chest, as if to listen to his heart or breathing or something. “Something’s happening. We need someone to examine them.”

 

“I can call Doctor Cho, we already have machines set up in the tower for MRIs and the like,” Tony offers.

 

“No. Wanda’s power blocks conventional MRI tech,” Clint tells him quickly. "And I'm assuming Billy's does too."

 

“Brain scans aren’t important anyways,” Kate tells them. “I’m going to call David. If anyone knows if Xavier exists on this earth, or where the heck the school is, it’s him.”

 

“Xavier?” Natasha asks. “You need to stop talking now.” She looks at the Avengers. “I can get Wanda help, but I can’t bring any of you besides Clint and Pietro with me.” She looks them over. “Don’t call your friend. We don’t want to deal with the chance of anyone meeting themselves.” The group of them seems to freak out, just a little bit. There's always that strangeness in how much Natasha knows.

 

“We’re all going.” Kate says swiftly.

 

“I didn’t doubt it,” Natasha nods. “I’ll call you, later, and as soon as Wanda has recovered we’ll come back to the tower.” She looks at the Avengers. “This isn’t classified, but you should treat it as if it was so classified that not even the president could know. I’m taking the jet, and will be removing all tracers on board. Don’t even think about following.”

 

“Will you be able to handle all of them on your own?” Rhodey asks. “We don’t know if they’re evil or not.” Natasha shrugs.

 

“They won’t do anything until we’re there.” She says simply. “And if this was just an elaborate plot to get me to take them there, then they should know exactly how badly it’ll end for them.”

 

“Attacking the – them?” Tommy notes. “That’s a bad idea for anybody, but that’s not to say we couldn’t take them, I mean-“

 

“We couldn’t take them.” Eli said simply. “Unless you wanted to reveal you have more in common with your grandfather than the hair?”

 

“Nope,” Tommy replies with a laugh. “Too many supervillains in the family already. Everyone would always be comparing us. Besides, I’m not really a world domination destroy the human race guy. I’d probably be more of a sowing chaos and robbing banks kind of supervillain.”

 

“Wow. Such nobility.” Kate deadpans, but she isn’t fully in the sarcasm, her eyes full of worry.

 

“Are you _sure_ you’re not worried about them?” Rhodey asks again, which is almost a joke.

 

“We’re fine, we’re better than them, and we’re leaving.” Clint says, as Pietro picks up Wanda. Teddy is already holding Billy in his arms, and they walk on to the plane quickly, Natasha heading to the front. The Avengers watch them leave, but despite their protests, no one moves to stop them.

 

“You aren’t, by the way.” Kate says, after they're all in the jet. “I mean, Natasha is better than any of us physically, but we would crush you in to the dust.” She says it simply, as if she isn't bragging. “You’re not nearly as good as my Clint, judging on the videos.”

 

“Let’s not go comparing ourselves to ourselves,” Clint replies. “But Pietro is most definitely faster than the little runt, and there’s no way any of you would beat Natasha in a fight.”

 

“Cassie has the ability to grow three stories tall.” Kate says simply. “She crushes you underfoot. Tommy’s raced a Quicksilver who’d been an active superhero for far longer, and they were the same speed. We haven’t even touched Teddy.”

 

Clint rolls his eyes. “At the very least, let me believe we have a chance of not dying. It eases my mind.” Kate laughs. “What’s he like, then, the other universe version of me?”

 

“A moron.” Kate says quickly. “I don’t know. He wasn’t like you. He used to be a supervillain, not that he really talks about it. I only really knew him as this loser with a tendency for getting in trouble. He trained me, for a while. I’m pretty sure most of what he did was an act, making everyone underestimate him. Heh. I don’t even need an act for that.”

 

“Huh.” Clint says, mulling that over. “It sounds like he was a good person.” That sits heavily for a few seconds. “I assume he was Hawkeye, too? From the way you said your name, there was another Hawkeye. Did he give it to you?” It sounds weird, talking about an alternate version of himself to a protege/apprentice he's never met before.

 

“Captain America did.” Kate notes. “He was dead -you were dead, I guess- for a while, and during an alien invasion I sassed Captain America, and instead of being mad he gave me the name.” Kate shrugs. “I didn’t have a name, I was just this girl running around with Hawkeye’s old bow and Mockingbird’s old staves and barely keeping up with everyone, and then I talk back to Captain America and he gives me the name.”

 

“You reminded me of Steve because you were sassy?” Clint notes. “Your universe sounds like an interesting place. Bobbi was a superhero too, then?”

 

“Yeah.” Kate notes. “You founded the West Coast Avengers, together.” There’s a shrug. “When we were still tossing around names, and Billy was calling himself _Asgardian_ but the media hadn’t caught on, someone brought up Hawkingbird.”

 

“That’s a dumb name,” Clint notes. “Also, Asgardian, really? I mean, it’s not the worst but –“ Something clicks in Clint’s brain. “Oh. Yeah. That would cause some issues. At the very least, rude people on the internet.”

 

“Stop bonding,” Tommy says. “It’s getting annoying, and then you’re going to adopt a dog together, and everyone will look at me like I need to do a bonding exercise with my pseudo-mentor and there is no way that’s going to happen. Trust me, I've tried it before, and we suck at it.”

 

“Damn. I really hope David is remembering to feed Lucky,” Kate comments to herself out of nowhere. “What are we going to do when Billy’s okay?”

 

“What we’ve been doing for the last months,” Eli replies, “wait. Unless you want to help Iron Man build an interdimensional portal so we can get our asses whooped by Doom again.”

 

“That’s a horrible plan.” Cassie says, and then she laughs, and she’s the only one who is able to laugh with her bitter jokes. “You heard what Billy said. Your friend is trapped. She’s not coming for us.”

 

“I know!” Tommy shouts out, sounding strangely cheerful, “Maybe if we wish really, really hard and Billy and Teddy have a dramatic magic circle make out session, everything will go back to normal and none of this incredible nightmare will have happened!” he pauses, “Oh, wait, except I’m here, and nothing truly reality bendingly weird can happen when I’m here and not being possessed.”

 

“Shut up!” Teddy barks out, and everyone gets quiet. “We’re going to deal with what’s wrong with Billy, and then we can worry about everything else.” There are dark rings around his eyes, and he doesn’t look good.

 

“Is he okay?” Clint asks, carefully. Quietly.

 

“No.” Kate replies softly. “None of us are. Except he can’t shake off all his worries with humor when Billy’s like that.” Kate stares in to the distance. “We’re not even really friends anymore. Living here, knowing everything’s gone – it’s tearing us apart.”

 

Clint doesn’t respond to that. He knows what it’s like, maybe, except he doesn’t. He’s not certain that, at the age they all are, he had any real friends. But he understands what it’s like to be brought together, tired and uncertain and in an unfamiliar place. He’s pretty sure he understands Kate, at the very least. He's pretty sure he understands what she's talking about.

 

He hopes these kids are okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love writing the young avengers. i love the angst, and i love the sass. so much sarcasm, i love writing sarcastic characters.
> 
> and by that i mean i love writing tommy.


	4. okay, i understand mentioning genocide and pizza in the same breath is rather peculiar, but in my defense, i haven't eaten since before the secret government agency took us hostage

Teddy has silenced the whole jet for the rest of the ride. It’s fast, and they aren’t exactly going that far, but the silence makes the whole thing very uncomfortable. He sits next to Billy, his (what? Boyfriend’s?) head in his lap. Pietro, meanwhile, isn’t as close to where his sister lies, fidgeting in a corner and watching her carefully for even a second of movement.

 

Kate shifts. She paces the length of the jet, and then she sits next to Cassie, allowing the girl to lean on her. Noh Varr sits beside her, not quite close enough to touch, and Eli is sitting alone. Tommy’s fidgeting like Pietro is, as if he doesn’t know exactly what to do.

 

Clint goes up to the cockpit as they get closer, watching as their destination comes in to view. Natasha enters in some codes, and then lands down on the small island, technically claimed by Massachusetts. It has no official name, but it tends to be called Haven.

 

Natasha is the only one who has been there before, though Clint has met some of the inhabitants. They step out on to the pavement, and Logan is waiting for them

 

“Who’re the kids?” He asks, looking at the group. He instantly accepts Wanda and Billy, of course, and Pietro as well – Teddy he must trust by looks alone, but it’s the other’s he seems worried about.

 

“Shit,” Kate mutters. “Of course it’s Wolverine.”

 

Clint stares at her, because he’s never heard that name associated to Logan, ever. Some of the kids have chosen names, now, but Logan has always been Logan -  only Logan, no last name. 

 

“I asked who you were,” he repeats. “Chuck is real accepting, but I’m not. You told us you had some telepathic injury, not a group of kids.”

 

“We aren’t children,” Eli says succinctly. “We’re the ones who asked them to take Billy here. We really don’t want to fight you, but that doesn’t mean we won’t.”

 

“No fighting,” Natasha tells him. “It’s a very long story, but they aren’t a danger, truly. Do any of them smell human to you?”

 

“The girl does.” Logan notes. “But just because someone isn’t human doesn’t mean I trust them.” He looks grumpy. “It doesn’t matter, Chuck said to let you through, and I want it to be quick before any of the kids sneak in to stare at you and start wanting to be superheroes.” Whether that’s addressed at Clint, Natasha, and Pietro or the younger supers is hard to say.

 

Natasha landed right outside the building, and it’s only a short distance until they’re in the room where Charles Xavier is waiting. It’s an elegant room, in that prep school style Charles loves so much, but with the two sofas moved together it’s also very clearly where the man expects to do his work.

 

“Agent Romanov, Agent Barton.” Xavier says in greeting. “I’m afraid I don’t know the rest of your names.”

 

“Pietro. Maximoff,” Pietro supplies sharply. “My sister, Wanda. I was told you could help her.” He lays Wanda on the couch, and her breathing is so shallow and infrequent she looks deathly still. Xavier nods, and turns to the others.

 

“Kate Bishop.” Kate says clearly, as if she trusts Charles Xavier, more than she trust the Avengers - which Clint has to admit makes a bit of sense. Perhaps she's merely being polite with the introduction, something that hadn't been a priority with the first round of introductions.

 

“Eli Bradley.” Eli says, with a nod, following suit. 

 

“Cassie Lang.” Kate and Eli both seem out of place, as if they acknowledge they are humans encroaching on the island, but Cassie . . . doesn’t. Clint has noticed her subtle shrinking and growing, but the girl manages to stay calm and the same size.

 

“Noh Varr.” Noh says, and that earns some peculiar looks. Has Haven had to deal with aliens, before? They'd never said anything to the effect.

 

“Tommy Shepard.” Tommy says swiftly. He seems anxious too, but more like he’s waiting for someone to show up and less of an out of place.

 

“Teddy Altman.” Comes the final line. “Billy Kaplan, my fiancé. Fix him.”

 

“I’ll do my best.” Charles replies with sympathy. It is nice to meet you all, but if you could leave the room while I work? Too many minds in close proximity can make things difficult.”

 

“I’m not leaving,” Pietro and Teddy say at the same time.

 

“I understand. You aren’t staying as well?” Xavier asks, and Tommy looks away. “He is your brother.”

 

“I’d prefer not to be in the same room while you mess with the reality warpers’ minds,” Tommy says, voice as flippant as it always sounds. “I’m not saying I’m worried something bad is going to happen, I’d just prefer to be on the other side of the island. Or the world.”

 

Xavier nods, and Teddy takes a seat on the far side of the room to give the man some space, at least. The others leave, slowly, and Tommy dashes off down the hall, likely exploring.

 

“Speedster.” Logan grumbles. “I hate speedsters.”

 

“Think about it this way.” Kate supplies. “At least with him going so fast, no one is going to realize there are strangers on campus.”

 

Logan harrumphed at that, but seemed to accept her reasoning.

 

“How did you know that they exist? Know Xavier's name?” Natasha asks the group, softly but not pretending that Logan can’t hear. “In your universe?”

 

“Mutants aren’t hidden in our universe.” Cassie replies. “They’ve been open since the sixties; around for much longer, I think, though there are a lot more of them now. I mean, until-“

 

“Let’s not talk about that,” Eli interrupts. “You know full well what they would do on the off chance they could.” He looks at Logan (why had they called him Wolverine?) and the man looks back. They don't seem worried in the slightest by Xavier, but Logan seems to mess with them just by being there.

 

“The X-men,” Kate says simply. "Your universe only has a few handfuls of superheros, only the one real group, but our universe has so many. The X-men are the most prominent mutant superhero group in the world. I don’t know any names other than codenames, though.”

 

“You knew Xavier’s.” Natasha states.

 

“Everyone knows Charles Xavier.” Kate replies. “He’s the focal point of everything. Well, him or –“

 

“Yeah, maybe want to be careful mentioning dear old gramps.” Tommy says casually, zooming back. “This place is awesome. Beyond the school there’s this whole city, and a park, I mean, it isn’t quite _Genosha_ but it’s something.”

 

“Genosha?” Logan asks, butting in. “Why are you bringing that name up here? Don’t tell me that’s where you’re from.”

 

“No,” Kate says quickly. “Trust me, Tommy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” She says that part so smoothly. “Tommy, did you find anyone familiar?”

 

“Yeah,” Tommy tells them with no hesitation. “A whole lot of people, but most importantly, someone very familiar is coming this way.” Kate nods, and she looks where Tommy had come from, and Clint looks there too, trying to see. It’s Logan who finds whoever it is first, with an eyeroll.

 

“Logan.” Greets the slightly echoing voice. “Humans.”

 

“Like I said,” Tommy repeated very slowly, well, slowly for him. “Maybe you want to be a little bit careful with the names you toss around.”

 

Noh Varr smiles. “Don’t worry, Kate. I may not be human, but I’ll fight by your side.” His grin is somewhat ridiculous, as if Kate didn’t already know that everyone on this team of not-friends would fight for her.

 

“We’re here on Xavier’s permission,” Natasha informs the newcomer. “Though I suppose he’s the one you wanted to see?”

 

The man Clint was only ever introduced to as Magnus looks at Logan, who nods. Logan, at least, likes humans. Magnus at best looked down at them, at worst despised them. He was at least in part the reason Xavier had chosen to set up shop so far from shore.

 

“You’re correct.” Magnus, at least, had something resembling respect for Natasha, as most people who had seen her in action did.

 

“Well, I can’t let you in, bub,” Logan says casually. “Chuck’s trying to focus, and he doesn’t need any distractions.” Magnus nods, but does not move to leave. “You’re waiting with us, then.”

 

“I do need to speak with him,” Magnus says, calmly. “What peril has sent the Avengers running to us, then? Have you finally met a foe you couldn’t best?” He speaks in a mocking tone, but it’s also very lyrical. Clint would be fascinated if it weren’t for the fact without Xavier's influence he wouldn’t trust Magnus not to attack them.

 

“We aren’t the Avengers,” Kate tells him. Her voice is not commanding but it conveys a sense of strength and respect, something even Magnus seems to acknowledge, even if he'd never like it. “If anything, we’re the foe.” She smiles at that, slightly. “Although I suspect we’ll be asked inside shortly.”

 

“And why is that?” Natasha asks, looking at Kate. Natasha is a very suspicious person, and Kate the sort of person who is so well planned they exude the sense of alterior motives.

 

Pietro opens the doors, just as Kate nods towards it, like he's right on schedule. “The man – Xavier -  needs to speak to you all.” He says, looking at the group. He glances up at Magnus. “He asked for you too.” Clint puts on a face of mock affront, but they all walk in anyway, and Magnus shuts the door.

 

Billy and Wanda are both awake, which lightens the groups' faces. They pause from directly running toward him, as Billy seems as if he has a massive headache.

 

“I don’t know who you are,” Xavier says simply. “I don’t know what, exactly, I saw in the glimpses of your friend’s mind, but I hope that whatever issue is going on gets resolved.” Then, he turns to Magnus, and Pietro, and Wanda, who was looking better than Billy but not quite herself. “This information is, how should I put it, delicate. I’m not certain as to whether or not I should share it, but I feel keeping this a secret would not bode well, and yet the methods through which I gained the information, while involuntary, were pervasive.”

 

“Oh my god stop talking,” Tommy says. “Hey, look! It’s your secret dad! Yay, family reunion, let’s move on with our lives!” Everyone stares at Tommy.

 

“What,” Pietro says. “You’re our – but he – and you –“ He seems to fizzle out.

 

“Magda was pregnant?” Magnus asked Charles, slowly, hand moving up towards his mouth in surprise. “I didn’t know. I shouldn’t have moved on so quickly – I should have known –“

 

“You’re not at fault,” Charles tells him calmly. “No one knew.” Magnus stares at him for a few seconds. “I do not know what their role in this is, or how that young man knew, or if it is even true, but it makes a sort of sense.”

 

“Nothing is making any sense,” Magnus says slowly. “You tell me I have children, except they are Avengers whose powers came artificially, and you tell me you know because of these strangers, who talk of Genosha of all things-”

 

“I don’t get it,” Tommy mutters. “What’s wrong about Genosha?”

 

“Seriously?” Kate asks. “Did you never learn any modern history?”

 

“I was in prison,” Tommy replies. “I have a get out of knowledge free card, because I exchanged classic schooling for an angsty background.”

 

“I don’t know how well it matches up, but Genosha was -is- one of the most violently anti-mutant countries around.” Billy says calmly. “As in, literal slavery. I mean, until it was, and he, and, well, you know that part at least.” He paused, thinking. “I was going to rebuild it, the ruins, but I kept pushing it off because of what they would assume, and now it’s too late.”

 

Wanda stares at him. “I – I remember what you’re talking about. This place was destroyed, and I did-" she pauses, looking for the words, "something.”

 

“Yeah,” Billy tells her. “Let's not talk about that.” He very pointedly avoids looking at Wolverine. “I’m sorry about all that, making you worry, but our powers don’t match quite right. It’s this universe. There’s something, just, wrong about it.”

 

“I’ll say,” Kate mutters. “I was beginning to think it was just missing some of the component parts, but here they are." She turns to look to Billy. "What happened to you and Wanda?"

 

"She tried to see what I was scrying, kind of?" Billy notes. "Except, I think our minds got tangled together, just a little bit? I didn't see anything, but then again, I don't exactly remember a lot of what happened."

 

"I - I have these memories," Wanda adds. "Things that I haven't done - Father - Pietro -" She pauses. "No. I didn't do that. Please tell me I didn't do that."

 

"Didn't do what?" Pietro asks.

 

"Oh." Billy breathes out. "You shouldn't have seen that." He looks at her, very carefully. "Please don't say those words. Promise me, that you'll never say them."

 

"How would speaking a few words do anything?" Clint asks. "I mean, you've mentioned that Billy's powers involve repetition, but they're just words. What could she do?"

 

"Play a part in the world's biggest genocide," Cassie says cheerfully. "Hey, does anyone have any pizza or something? I think I'm speaking for everyone here when I say I'm starving."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> teenage girl comes back from the dead, gains delightfully morbid sense of humor.
> 
> why do all of my chapter titles sound like shit posts?


	5. In which the important question of "Is there such a thing as too many Hawkeyes?" gets asked, and answered, and answered again.

“We should head back.” Natasha notes, having neatly finished her slice of the offered pizza. “The others will be wondering what's happening, and I can’t radio them until we’re out of Haven, for security.”

 

They're sitting in a side room, away from Xavier's office where he, Magnus, Wanda, and Pietro are still talking. Logan has disappeared, but he's likely still nearby, just to keep a careful eye on them. The pizza is almost finished.

 

“I don’t –“ Billy starts. “I’m not sure I want to go back to Avengers tower and face more interrogation.”

 

“We’ve figured out who you are and what your goals are.” Clint says. “So no more interrogation, just random questions about are alternate universe counterparts, because we are naturally curious people. The only real issue left is what you’re going to do next.”

 

The group pauses. “If what Billy saw was true, then waiting for America might be hopeless.” Eli notes. “So we’re stuck either living here, or we plan on going to rescue her.”'

 

“I thought you said that this Doom was powerful,” Natasha notes, “powerful enough that you were worried the Avengers would even survive an attack. What makes you think that you could stand a chance of surviving, much less rescuing your friend?”

 

“I mean, if we did go there, we wouldn't be fighting him. We'd be breaking in," Cassie tells her. "We don't have the best skill set for that, but it's better than most."

 

“If we followed with that plan, how would we get to this place?” Noh asks. “I don't have the supplies to even try building a ship which could do that, and we're missing America; there’s no way to leave this universe.”

 

“Well, I mean, we do have Billy,” Kate adds. “Noh, Teddy, you were there for the fight with Mother. I bet that in the right state of mind, he could get us there easily, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he could single-handedly beat up Doom.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Billy replies. “I mean, I’m not even close to full power right now, and I don’t have enough control. Besides, Doom has a ridiculous amount of backup, and there’s no way I could fight all of that at once.”

 

“Really?” Kate asks. “I’m just saying, we put you in a battle, lots of stress, you and Teddy make out – bam. Demiurge powers. Doom and friends are all obliterated and everything is set right.”

 

“That’s not what we’re doing,” Teddy cuts in. “Not that I’m against making out with Billy, but we all know that trapped or not, America could make it back here if she wanted to, which means she’s got other people she wants to save. I’m not saying we just sit in a house and wait, but trying to get Billy to go Demiurge and fight Doom isn’t the way to go.”

 

“So what is your plan?” Clint asks. “I’ve been zoning in and out because I'm pretty sure half of those words were made up, but since you’re hanging out in our universe, what’s your plan?”

 

“I don’t know,” Kate admits. “We’ve revealed we exist to Shield, so we can’t just hide.”

 

“Who needs to hide?” Cassie asks. “I mean, can you imagine? We’re dealing with an Avenger’s team which kind of views us as experts in the whole idea of superheroics. They’d respect us. Wasn’t that always what we wanted?”

 

“Back before you-“ Eli starts. “Yeah. Back then, we wanted to be Avengers. But I don’t know if I even want to be a superhero, much less an Avenger.”

 

“It took a field trip across the multiverse to get Billy and Teddy back in to the idea.” Kate says. “I understand why we quit, but now that Cassie’s back – what’s to stop us from at least trying?”

 

“So you want to be Avengers?” Natasha asks them. “I don’t have any problem with that, and I don’t foresee anyone besides Scott having an issue with that either.”

 

“Why him –“ Clint starts. “Oh. Yeah, the whole teenage alternate universe version of your daughter throwing herself in to danger thing.” Clint pauses. “Hey, we confirmed that Kate is not, in fact, my daughter, and the two alien kids get off scot free, but we still don’t know who’s the dad of the junior wonder twins, or if, uh, Eli has an avenger parent.” Everyone stares at him. “What? Three out of Seven means there’s a trend going on here.”

 

“No.” Eli says, kind of harshly. “None of my family ever got to be Avengers.” The tone of his voice is very bitter. “Unless there’s a secret shield team where Isaiah Bradley got his due respect?”

 

Natasha furrows her brow. “Isaiah Bradley. He was one of the test subjects in recreating the Supersoldier serum after Steve crashed in to the ice.” She notes. “I can’t remember what happened to him. I believe I gave those files to Bruce, who was thinking of tracking down some of the original subjects to try and find his cure.”

 

“Are you telling me that the Hulk was made using the supersoldier serum?” Teddy asks, kind of incredulous. “That’s fascinating. Even with an imperfect serum, the fact that it is inherently reversible, swapping between the two forms –"

 

“Stop being such a nerd,” Eli tells him, with the hint of a smile on his face, but just barely. “Three out of Eight, by the way.”

 

“I'm four, if you count Mar-Vell,” Teddy interrupts. “Though, I don’t think he’s shown up, yet, if no one has heard of the Kree.”

 

“I thought you said you were Skrull, not Kree,” Natasha points out, and it's a little bit amazing she even remembers the word, because Clint has certainly forgotten it. Not that the kid is an alien, though, because even as an alleged shape-shifter, he's stayed green.

 

“I’m both.” Teddy admits. “I’m also kind of a prince and allegedly destined to unite the two empires in peace.” Natasha and Clint both stare at him. “Though, given the fact the universe was destroyed, I kind of doubt I’ll be getting on that any time soon.”

 

“Well, okay then. I don’t see any problems with letting them join the Avengers.” Clint notes. “I mean, they accept me, so I’m sure you’ll all find it easy to get in. Though, I’m wondering whether or not your missing friend will want a say in all of this.”

 

“I’ve been texting him status updates.” Tommy says. “And just texting him in general. I can’t say I care about the plans for the future you all are making.” There’s a slight breeze and the last slice of pizza appears in Tommy’s hands, as his lone thumb darts over the keyboard of his phone fast enough it isn’t properly visible.

 

“And? What does he think?” Kate asks.

 

“Mostly he’s just been lecturing me about mutant history.” Tommy admits.  “And about he wants to come check out Haven, kind of, but I think that’s mostly to spy on his other self, but he hasn’t said that he is against the whole Avengers plan yet –“ he pauses. “Wait he’s typing. Ugh, why does he have to type so slowly" 

 

There are a few seconds of waiting, and Tommy groans over-dramatically, before the phone buzzes again.

 

“Okay, so we all know that he’s not a huge fan of the Avengers, and he doesn’t want to ‘mess up the whole universe’ by ‘showing up even though there’s a version of him who’s pretty close in age’ and how ‘not messing everything up for himself’ is ‘important’. I mean, without the airquotes and mocking voices. Well, maybe with, but since it’s a text I don’t know –“

 

“Tommy,” Kate interrupts. “No offense, but your Alleyne-impressions need more work." He barks out a laugh at that.

 

“Cool. I’m going to go and check in on Wanda and Pietro,” Clint says. “I don’t know if they want to head back with us or if they want to catch up with their apparently long lost father.” He heads out of the room to Xavier’s office.

 

“Do you really think the other Avengers would accept?” Cassie asks. “I mean, we did meet while breaking out of a Shield base.”

 

“They already like you,” Natasha tells her. “Anyone who risks their safety to destroy Hydra and to save their friends are pretty much instantly Steve’s friend, after all.”

 

“Good,” Kate says. “Cause I have to admit that I’m just a little bit hooked on the idea that the Young Avengers are finally graduating to full Avenger status.”

 

“I don’t think we get to call ourselves the Young Avengers anymore regardless.” Eli tells them. “The youngest one of us is Cassie, and she’s sixteen.” He pauses. “It was a pretty dumb name anyways.”

 

“Don’t say that.” Cassie retorts. “I liked the name.”

 

"I don't know." Billy says. "I mean, it was good at the time, but I think we just . . . grew out of it. Though, I mean, if we're talking about graduating to full Avenger status, we were technically inducted in to the Avengers proper." Kate rolls her eyes at that.

 

"Grew out of it?" Teddy repeats with a snort. "You chose the name Asgardian, Bee. No offense, but we were a bunch of fans picking ridiculous names. I called myself Hulkling. The only even okay names were Eli's and Cassie's. We haven't even started talking about Kate "what do you mean I have to pick a codename, what's wrong with just using my actual name" Bishop.

 

“I’ll have you know I have a wonderful codename,” Kate huffs. “Unless you think the world’s going to break if there are too many Hawkeyes.”

 

“No such thing as too many Hawkeyes.” Clint replies as he returns, and the pair of them fist bump. Natasha rolls her eyes, and Tommy groans.

 

“I think there’s about two too many Hawkeyes,” Pietro adds, running in. “We’re ready to leave.” He pauses, and looks at Billy. “Thank you. I thought we had lost all of our family, and just knowing that our father is alive, and that he didn’t abandon us –“

 

“Yeah.” Billy cuts him off. “I’m just glad that you’re getting along.”

 

“Why wouldn’t we get along?” Wanda asks. “He’s a wonderful pers-“ She pauses, as if she remembers something. “It is strange. All of our shared memories are gone, but I still have this faint impression. Who is he, to you?”

 

“Something we won’t talk about.” Kate says. It seems there is a lot they won't talk about “No offense, I’m all about openness, but I’d rather not talk about things like that. It’s only liable to start paranoia, and I’d rather we keep the paranoia to ourselves."

 

"A little paranoia can be a good thing," Natasha tells her. "But I agree. Given how different this universe is, knowing how things could have gone is only liable to bias us, which is dangerous in this field of work."

 

"Good to know, good to know." Clint adds. "I still want to learn about my awesome criminal past, though." He looks around. "Is everyone ready to go, then?"

 

“I think we should pick up David first.” Teddy tells him, and Billy chuckles. “But yeah. Let’s go be Avengers."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what? i actually updated this? shocking.
> 
> i genuinely don't like the writing or the plot for this story, but the idea is just so interesting i keep coming back to it. well, i like some of the writing. i'm a big fan of morbid humor and sarcastic jokes.


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